Gen Z flock to Korea’s first ‘fate expo’
Participants visit booths at Korea’s first-ever fate expo, "Fortune Adventure 2026," in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Mind Design
Amid a massive wave of interest in fortune-telling, the nation’s first comprehensive event featuring face reading, "saju" (fortune-telling based on year, month, day and time of birth) and tarot opened to great success over the weekend.
Younger people who are keen on attracting "good cosmic energy" were among the large crowds that turned up at Korea's first-ever expo organized around the concept, "Fortune Adventure 2026" in Seoul.
After waiting in a line that stretched about 30 meters, attendees secured spots at booths for fortune-telling for a mere 10 minutes at the cost of about 10,000 won ($7.50).
The booths were diverse, ranging from saju readings and tarot consultations to aroma therapy and personal image consulting. Some even specialized in career anxiety and wealth management.
"If people can easily see your ears well from the front, that means you left very good impression," a face reader explained to his 30-something client. "It’s almost like a free pass when you're interviewing for jobs."
A saju reader consults with her client at "Fortune Adventure 2026" at Yangjae, Seocho District, Seoul, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Park Jin-hai
Tailoring his advice to stocks and asset management, based on what young people were most concerned with, he continued: "Your face is naturally blessed with wealth. In fact, you have the perfect face for aggressive day trading. You'd do great constantly buying and selling stocks."
Then he asked her to smile and show her teeth. He explained, "As face readers, we focus mostly on unalterable features like the size of your teeth or the shape of your ears. Things like eyes can be easily changed with plastic surgery, so they don't tell us as much."
There were also lectures by experts in the field, including the celebrity fortune teller who famously triggered the Mount Gwanak hiking craze, Park Sung-jun, and Hyun Myo, the saju consultant for Disney’s show, "Battle of Fates." They shared practical insights on how to read cosmic charts and navigate life’s ups and downs.
Bracelets designed to balance out the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water are on sale during "Fortune Adventure 2026" at Yangjae, Seocho District, Seoul, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Park Jin-hai
Nearby, personalized saju consultations were in full swing. As soon as a visitor sat down and gave their date and time of birth, the saju reader said, "Your birth chart shows a really strong 'wood' energy. To bring things into balance, you'll want to surround yourself with 'water' energy." Taking the advice to heart, the attendee wrapped up the session and headed over to browse through some bracelets on sale to look for a black one — the color traditionally tied to the water element — to give their energy a quick boost.
The organizers emphasized that this event was a far cry from typical fortune-telling. They banned anything that stoked fear about life-and-death matters, prohibited the hard-selling of amulets or exorcism rituals and barred medical, legal and financial counseling. They even completely excluded shamanic "spirit readings."
"People used to view fortune-telling as mere superstition or predictions, but it feels like we've hit a turning point where it's now seen more like a weather forecast," explained Choi Bo-gyeong, a senior manager at the organizing agency, Mind Design.
Park Sung-jun, a celebrity fortune teller, gives a lecture during the "Fortune Adventure 2026" at Yangjae, Seocho District, Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Mind Design
"We wanted to rebrand this event as a 'life exploration tool' — a way for people to look deeply into their lives and gain personal insight. Our biggest worry was that it might look like a speculative gamble, so we stripped out those elements. That's why we excluded spirit readings. Since this was our first attempt, we were incredibly careful with everything from the initial planning right down to the specific wording we used."
"I had no idea the event would be this huge. The popular booths were fully booked for the day in less than an hour," she said, noting that people in their 30s made up 60 percent of the attendees, followed closely by those in their 20s. "People in their 30s are genuinely looking for guidance, and they're a generation that’s completely comfortable paying for fortune-telling services. Many of them are at major crossroads in life, dealing with things like finding a job or changing careers." She added that thanks to this unexpected success, they are already planning a second event in October.
The massive turnout aligns perfectly with recent data. According to a Trend Monitor survey released early this year, 52.5 percent of respondents in their 20s and 30s said they had engaged with fortune-telling content within the past year. Even more impressive, 62.3 percent of respondents answered they had actually used divination, saju or tarot services themselves.